A trove of primary sources sheds new light on the attack and the country’s response to the outbreak of war

Commemorations of the events that plunged America into war 75 years ago continue—the latest, a Smithsonian Channel documentary sizzling with breaking news broadcasts, pictures and commentaries seldom if ever included in previous documentaries. The result is quite simply spine-tingling, and that tingling grows steadily stronger.

“The Lost Tapes: Pearl Harbor” is, its subtitle notwithstanding, concerned with a much larger picture than the attack itself. That’s evident early on in the sharply drawn history of the 14 months...